Back in July, I mentioned feedback I had received from Dundee City Council following flash flooding in the Meadow Mill area of the West End Ward, near to Verdant Works.I have now received a further update from the City Engineer as follows :
"Scottish Water and my Engineers are continuing their investigations into the root cause of the flooding within the immediate and surrounding area and I can confirm that CCTV surveys of the drainage system on Brook Street, Guthrie Street, West Henderson Wynd and Milne's East Wynd were all completed on 30th July 2011.
Although we are currently awaiting the reports and video footage from Scottish Water and EEC, the CCTV Contractor, I can confirm from discussion with Scottish Water that there was no apparent blockage or obstruction within the trunk sewer network.
In addition, my Engineers have also completed a physical survey of all the gullies on the same streets and the gullies have also been cleaned on Brook Street. The cleaning of these gullies will ensure the road water will enter the drainage network unobstructed with the gully pots providing modest additional storage at times when the network is running at or near capacity. The physical survey noted above included a CCTV survey of the private network within the Industrial Estate and the condition of this system has been fed back to the Factor of DIA Business Properties.
From the survey of this private network I can confirm there are various silted sections which require cleaning to ensure the network runs at its most effective. I understand that the gullies within the estate are cleaned out regularly and this has been confirmed by the factor and the contractor, Tayside Contracts. A survey was also undertaken with the Factor's agent and one of my Engineers to map the private network and a drawing detailing the findings was prepared by my Engineers and provided to the Factor.
My Engineers, together with Scottish Water, have had a number of meetings with the Factor of the DIA Business Properties to discuss the detailed layout of the private network and this, together with the mapped network layout has helped the factor who previously had no records of the system within his property boundaries.
Finally, a further survey was carried out with a local contractor who is currently working at Parkmill, on Douglas Street and the purpose of this survey was to assess whether the drainage works they have carried out is affecting or adding to the recent flood events.
We are currently compiling a composite plan of the whole area of concern using historical and current maps. By doing so a fuller understanding of how the watercourses interact with the current drainage network within the immediate and surrounding area of concern.
Once we have received the CCTV survey, and collated the historical and current maps of the area we will have a better understanding of the mechanisms which are affecting the drainage system and be better placed to identify any potential improvements to the public and private systems.
It is hoped that Dundee City Council will be furnished with the CCTV report from Scottish Water within the next seven days. A further joint meeting has been arranged in early September 2011 with Scottish Water to discuss the findings and examine suitable cost effective and sustainable solutions and funding to reduce the chance of future flooding within this area."